A Simple and Efficient Asynchronous Randomized Binary Byzantine Consensus Algorithm

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple, efficient asynchronous binary Byzantine consensus algorithm that tolerates up to one third faulty nodes, achieves fast termination, and is validated through geodistributed experiments with low latency.

Contribution

It presents a novel asynchronous binary Byzantine consensus algorithm with cryptographic proofs, optimized message rounds, and real-world latency validation.

Findings

Consensus achieved in constant rounds

Latency as low as 400 milliseconds in geodistributed settings

Algorithm tolerates up to one third faulty nodes

Abstract

This paper describes a simple and efficient asynchronous Binary Byzantine faulty tolerant consensus algorithm. In the algorithm, non-faulty nodes perform an initial broadcast followed by a executing a series of rounds each consisting of a single message broadcast plus the computation of a global random coin using threshold signatures. Each message is accompanied by a cryptographic proof of its validity. Up to one third of the nodes can be faulty and termination is expected in a constant number of rounds. An optimization is described allowing the round message plus the coin message to be combined, reducing rounds to a single message delay. Geodistributed experiments are run on replicates in ten data center regions showing average latencies as low as 400 milliseconds.